Elisha Pulivarti/ Washington DC
BRS working president and Telangana IT & Municipal Minister KT Rama Rao (KTR)’s proposed Mobility Valley near Hyderabad will be a wonderful opportunity for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This will not only put Hyderabad on top of other major industrial hubs in India, but also make it a global destination for fast emerging automotive sector.
I am immensely happy that KTR is working with single minded devotion and direction for bringing global majors to Hyderabad and make Telangana their preferred state of choice. These kind of efforts need long term planning and equally long term execution. Even in the US, all major industrial hubs have been developed over a period of time, through sustained efforts. Not overnight.
Now we are seeing similar sustained focus in the IT and industries sector of Telangana. KTR and his team of officials including IT & Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan have been working round the clock to woo investors and global giants for the last eight years. Their regular meetings at Davos’ World Economic Forum or elsewhere have a single point agenda – Bring industries to Hyderabad, Telangana.
Mobility Valley
KTR announced this project Mobility Valley at an MoU signing event of Bosh, German mobility solutions and IT services giant to set up their unit in Hyderabad on December 14 Now we come to know that a few other global majors like Suzuki, and Hyundai too have shown interest to set up their units in Telangana. KTR has rightly decided to set up an exclusive Mobility Valley for them all at one location.
This industrial cluster like Genome Valley, set up near Hyderabad in 1999, will trigger massive industrialization and generate employment. Automotive industry today runs through hundreds of SMEs and ancillary industries. Each component is produced by specialized units, through domain skill-sets. This is good for youth to set up startups and new units in the valley. The Mobility Valley is likely to come on a sprawling area of 1,000 acres.
The Valley will house many Original Equipment Manufactures of automotive sector and other high technology areas. Today, automotive sector is fast surging towards driver-less cars. Consumers are preferring top-class ECB (electronic control boards) fitted cars. Very soon, 5-G will make our cars and other vehicles smart. I am sure, this Mobility Valley will be a hub of research & development too.
Hyderabad IT Exports 3rd in India
I am also glad that Hyderabad fast emerging as a major IT exports metropolis in India. As per a statement made by Union Minister of State for IT Rajiv Chandrasekhar in Parliament on December 16, Telangana is now 3rd in India with Rs 1,80,617 crore IT exports. Karnataka with Rs 3,95,904 crore and Maharashtra with Rs 2,36,808 crore IT exports come 1st and 2nd.
I’s remarkable to note that Telangana has pushed behind traditionally strong player Tamil Nadu to 4th place in IT exports. KTR has expressed optimism that Telangana will soon become No 1 in IT exports in the country. I am sure, this is not an exaggerated claim. This is quite possible through a series of policy measures and sustained efforts a the ground level. An IT minister like KTR and his team can easily achieve this.
(Elisha Pulivarti is CEO of US- India SME Council, Geopolitical analyst and a regular writer for Excel India from Washington DC)
